Communications needs continue to expand on a global scale. With the growing demand for communications, there is a concurrent expansion in the demand for audio, video, and combined audio and video conferencing. The ability for multiple parties to communicate with one another is very much a requirement for modern business. As individuals and organizations seek to decrease their costs and improve productivity, identifying relatively inexpensive, reliable, and effective conferencing solutions has become increasingly important. This is particularly true considering the recent rise in importance of packet-based audio, video, and other communications relying on Internet Protocol (IP).
Multi-party bridging provides a foundation for conferencing and has existed for some time in the form of analog (“dumb”) bridges handling public switched telephone network (PSTN) traffic, which require operator services or other appropriate intelligent front end capability. The number of conferees is typically limited to eight or fewer. Similar limitations exist for prior conferencing systems for handling IP traffic. Such systems are host-based, with bridging being performed using a general purpose central processing unit (CPU) within a “Media Server” or other computer system, and provide limited teleconferencing capacity. In many cases, a “push to talk” control key must be manipulated. Desirable features such as echo cancellation, automatic gain control, and simultaneous speaking are very difficult to implement. Furthermore, due to the nature of IP networks, packets are often lost or delayed, distorting voice audio or freezing an image on the viewing screen. Even in managed IP networks, congestion may cause temporary data loss for one or more conferees. Such quality of service issues must be carefully considered in assessing the usefulness of conferencing systems expected to handle IP traffic. While possibly adequate for casual use, such systems are typically not sufficiently robust for important business communications.
To deploy a traditional PSTN conference bridge within an IP network requires a separate “gateway” to convert the IP packets carrying conference audio and video into digital or analog telephone traffic before routing it to the bridge. In addition to other deficiencies noted above with respect to existing pure PSTN or pure IP solutions, such gateways must be paid for and managed. As a result of these and other deficiencies, previous techniques are often inadequate to meet conferencing requirements of many business and other users.